Gunshots and Confessions
by Natalie.LP
Summary: Another case had been solved, and the team had gone to bring their unsub in when disaster struck. With the BAU's newest member Agent Fuller rushed to hospital, the agents were in shock. What happened? Would she be alright? Will Hotch ever forgive himself if she doesn't make it? And what will happen when feelings are revealed and Dr Reid may have missed his chance?
1. Chapter 1

Agent Aaron Hotchner couldn't believe what had just happened. How had he missed him? It should have been relatively simple; they had tracked Jonathon Keaton who had been killing authority figures for the last month from his car and had his home surrounded. He had been hiding in the roof waiting for them, and Hotch had missed him with the cursory glance he had sent that way after focusing on the windows and grounds instead. Then he had cleared the team to go in... big mistake. The moment Agents Morgan, Prentiss and Fuller had moved into range the Keaton opened fire and chaos ensued.

Hotch ran in to cover Prentiss as they took refuge behind the Red Chevrolet Camaro that had led them here to begin with. In the wide open, Morgan and Fuller had no cover available and as Morgan positioned himself swiftly in front of Fuller to take a shot – perfect aim, straight through the heart – Fuller hit the ground. It seemed almost slow motion to the rest of the agents as their back-up moved past them to reach Keaton's body, and Morgan screamed the words they always dread – 'Agent down! We need a medic over here! Agent down!' Horror stricken, Prentiss and Hotch raced from their shelter to Fuller's side – lying in a rapidly forming puddle of blood, Fuller was barely conscious whispering 'sorry' over and over again. Morgan sat next to her cradling her head, smoothing her hair gently and telling her it would be ok and it wasn't her fault in a strained voice.

Hotch looked on with haunted eyes as the medics arrived and worked to stem the blood flow before loading her into the ambulance and leaving for the hospital with Morgan holding her hand the whole time, refusing to let go. _'This is my fault'_ thought Hotch_. 'I gave clearance, and now... there had been so much blood...she had only been working with them for a year, she was still so young and fresh...how could I have missed him!'_ He winced as the image of his agent lying on the ground pushed its way to the forefront of his mind, it was all he could see for a moment. He was jolted back to reality as the thought that he had to go and tell the rest of the team hit him. Had to tell them why it had happened..._ 'Because of me, my stupid mistake.'_ Hotch jumped slightly as Prentiss put a gentle hand on his shoulder.

'I know what you're thinking, and you're wrong. It isn't your fault. None of us saw him there, you weren't the only one checking the area, you know that. He fooled us all, Fuller was unlucky... very unlucky...' She trailed off slightly and shook her head, a distant look in her eyes as her thoughts went to her young friend.

'But _I_ gave the clearance Em, it was my call and –'

'And nothing.' Prentiss interrupted before continuing in a softer tone 'Don't do this to yourself. You'll see, give it a bit of time and Fuller will be the one telling you this. She's strong Aaron, you know she is, she'll make it just fine and be back before you know it.'

Prentiss squeezed his shoulder slightly before moving away towards the cars. 'Come on, we have to tell the others and get down to the hospital, I'll take Morgan's car back and meet you there.' She looked back questioningly as she reached the SUV when she heard him groan.

'Reid's going to kill me'

Prentiss laughed briefly 'Well, I can't really argue with that, he probably will. Now come on, he'll want to be there as soon as and he'll only want to kill you more if you delay it.' She finished with a wink and a laugh.

With a sigh Hotch joined Prentiss by the cars and drove back the local PD where his agents were waiting for news. 'Here goes nothing...'


	2. Chapter 2

Back at the station Reid, Garcia and JJ were waiting anxiously for news. They knew that Keaton had the potential to lose control and do anything if he was being cornered; they were just clinging on to the knowledge that their team were the best and they could handle anything Keaton threw at them. Keeping themselves busy with finishing off paperwork and helping the police officers with anything they needed, just to take their minds away from the events taking place a few miles away, they began to relax slightly. Until the radio call came in. Shots had been fired on arrival at the scene and Keaton was being brought back in a body bag. This alone would not have particularly concerned the agents, fairly routine for cases like this after all, if it were not for the lack of communication from their team now that the unsub had been taken down, and the background noise at the end of the radio call. The horrifying shout of 'agent down' echoed faintly just as the call shut off.

It had been Morgan's voice so they knew he was alright, but that still left 3 members of their BAU family it could have been, or maybe even more than one of them? Various 'what if's' were running through their minds as they gathered together by the main desk hoping now more than ever for some news. Immediately they started calling their fellow agents' cells but with no response from anyone; Morgan and Fuller for obvious reasons and Hotch and Prentiss ignoring calls.

Reid had a horrible, tense feeling in his gut. He was terrified. How serious was it? It would be beyond awful if anyone was seriously injured, or maybe even... gone... He was never good at this kind of thing, especially seeing as in normal circumstances he tended to be the one that call was for. He had terrible luck. And he had a feeling his luck had just gotten worse – _'What if it was Lucie?__ !__'_ He had been having an onslaught of emotions in the last few months whenever Agent Lucie Fuller was present/mentioned/entered his thoughts... anything really... He wasn't entirely sure what it meant. He had always been attracted to the young agent, she was beautiful after all – you would have to be blind not to see it! Along with her high intelligence (although she was no genius like himself, Reid appreciated that she possessed an impressive intellect nonetheless), and frankly breath-taking personality and demeanour. She was, quite simply, amazing. In fact, if he was being _completely_ honest with himself he would admit that he was in love with the girl. And she might be dead.

He was pacing now, and the girls knew why. He could see the looks of sympathy through their own worry stricken expressions. Reid just knew that the 'agent down' had been Fuller, he could just _feel_ it. Giving up his pacing, he turned to lean against the desk with his co-workers/friends just in time to see Prentiss and Hotch walk through the main doors. Gasps came from the women either side of him as they realised what this meant. Garcia grasped his hand, in comfort he supposed, but he felt nothing he simply focused on his boss who was suspiciously avoiding his gaze.

'What happened?' JJ demanded. 'Where are they?'

Sensing that Hotch was finding it difficult, Prentiss stepped forward instead. 'Morgan is accompanying Fuller to the hospital. She... she got hit a few times... she's in pretty bad shape.' She paused for a moment running her hand through her hair and shaking her head dejectedly. 'We missed Keaton, he was on the roof out of sight and he umm.. he opened fire as soon as we got in range. He caught us all by surprise and –'

'Which hospital?' A quiet voice suddenly piped up.

Prentiss stopped mid-sentence at the interruption.

'Reid?'

'Which hospital did they take her to? Actually don't answer, let's go now.'

The team looked on in shock as Reid stood up and made his way out of the building, clearly expecting the others to follow. JJ and Garcia quickly stood and followed after their resident genius stopping only to speak quickly to Prentiss on the way past to get the address. Prentiss and Hotch slowly recovered from the shock of the man's abrupt departure, and turned to speak with the Chief of Police to wrap up the case before they too could leave for the hospital.


	3. Chapter 3

Morgan was deep in conversation with the Doctor overseeing Fuller's care, Dr. Carlton, when the doors to the private waiting room they were occupying burst open to reveal a frantic Dr Spencer Reid. Seeing the Doctor, Reid immediately rushed forward and began questioning her at full speed, ignoring the subdued conversations behind him as the women had caught up to him. The only thing that mattered in that moment was making sure Fuller was alive, that she would be alright, and that he would have the chance to tell her how he felt. He couldn't lose her before she even knew! Even if she didn't feel the same way (which was highly probable in his opinion), he couldn't live the rest of his life haunted by 'what if'. And he was confident that she wouldn't allow things to become awkward between them with that outcome.

'Miss Fuller has just gone into surgery so that we can remove a bullet which has lodged in her left thigh, and we are going to have to give her a blood transfusion due to the amount of blood loss at the scene. She has two additional wounds on her right upper arm and her left thigh; however these are clean wounds and will only require stitches. I suspect the shot to her arm may have damaged the bone due to the level of swelling, and so we will have to take her up for an x-ray when she had recovered from surgery.

As soon as she is in recovery I will come and speak with you again, and providing all goes well you should be able to see her about an hour or two after that when she is placed in a room off the ward. Any questions in the meantime please ask one of the nurses and I will try and stop by when I have the chance. It's a fairly straightforward procedure, so try not to worry too much. She should be out and in recovery in no time.'

With a final comforting smile, Dr Carlton left and Reid collapsed onto a seat in slight relief, remaining silent and lost in his thoughts as small talk began amongst the other agents. He may have been somewhat reassured but he couldn't relax yet, not until he was sure she was ok. He needed to see her.

Two hours later, the whole team sat anxiously awaiting news and completing paperwork – luckily their case had been in a small town close enough to Quantico so they didn't need to rush away back to the officer. Fuller had come out of surgery just under an hour ago and was in recovery, they were just waiting for her to be moved into a room where the team could visit. Surgery had been successful, but Fuller had yet to regain consciousness. As usual Reid had completed his report far quicker than the rest of the team, and after pacing around the waiting room exactly 46 times; going on two coffee runs; and visiting the rest room once, he decided he could not wait anymore and went in search of anyone who could provide an update. Just as he reached the door it opened, nearly knocking him off his feet as a nurse entered.

'Miss Fuller is now in her room if you would like to see her? I'm afraid she hasn't come around yet so you will only be allowed in for one hour as a group before I have to follow hospital protocol and allow a maximum of two visitors at one time.'

The agents quickly followed the nurse to Fuller's room and entered cautiously, unsure as to what they would see. Reid rushed to her bedside and gently took her hand in his, careful not to jostle her in any way. She was breathing regularly, the heart monitor held a steady pace, and despite the bandages and slight bruising she was beautiful. Releasing a sigh of relief Reid finally let himself believe that she would be okay, she just needed to wake up. A soft smile reached his lips as he leant forward to brush a fallen strand of hair behind her ear and gently kiss her cheek. He startled slightly as he felt someone slip an arm around his shoulders to give him a sideways hug, Morgan had been so relieved to finally see some of the tension released from his young friend's shoulders and to see Fuller alive and doing relatively well. Giving a timid smile of thanks to his friend, Reid returned his attention to the object of his affections. She was going to be fine, and soon enough she would wake up and he would tell her. He would finally confess his feelings because even if she didn't feel the same, they could just stay friends and that was fine because nothing could ever hurt as much as losing her with her not knowing. Even a rejection would be better right now, because at least she would know. He had to take the chance – she meant everything to him.


	4. Chapter 4

One by one the team took their place at Fuller's bedside, whispering soft encouraging words and apologies – willing her to open her eyes and see her 'family', see how much they cared for her before falling into easy conversation quietly. The only constant was Reid who never left his position, clutching her hand like a lifeline as he gazed down at the girl he loved, almost oblivious to everything else. They all jumped slightly as Hotch's phone rang out breaking the complete silence that had fallen while later. Excusing himself he left the room to answer and the rest of the team realised that their time together was almost over. It was time to say goodbye for the day, Reid and Garcia would stay to keep her company until morning and then they would face the task of convincing Reid to take turns by her bedside. Rossi waited by the door as JJ and Prentiss embraced their co-workers/friends, each brushing a soft kiss to Fuller's forehead before joining Rossi and making the remaining agents promise to call when she woke up. At that moment Hotch re-entered the room looking grim.

'We have a new case, it's fairly urgent... I know timing is off but we have to go. I've managed to delay our departure until first thing tomorrow morning but that is the best I can do I'm afraid.'

'I'm not going.' The team turned to look at Reid in sympathy.

'Reid I need you on this, I know you don't want to go and I really wish there was another way but I need your expertise tomorrow. If we get this solved quickly you will be back in no time and –'

'No. I'm not leaving her. I need to be here when she opens her eyes, you don't understand I just _have_ to be. I love her so much; I just... I can't go on a case right now. I can and will take personal days if I need to, we both know I have plenty left over, but I am not going anywhere.' Reid's tone had started off relatively calm and decisive but was becoming slightly desperate as he attempted to convince his boss.

'Reid –' Hotch sighed.

'Look Hotch I really am sorry, and if there is anything you want my opinion on or any facts you need to know I am more than happy to help you - over the phone. There is nothing you can say will change my mind. I –'

Reid paused suddenly as he felt something brush his arm. During his dispute he had jumped up and let go of Fuller's hand for the first time since his arrival in the room to gesture wildly. If he had not done so he would have felt her hand flex and her body shift slightly as she awoke.

'Spence...'

Looking down at the bed, Reid startled as he saw two eyes blinking groggily back up at him.

'Spence, stop yelling. If you have a case you need to go. Go do your thing. Solve your crime, catch the unsub, and come back when it's all over. It's not like I'll be going anywhere for a while from the looks of things.' Fuller let out a soft laugh followed by a muted sound of pain as she jostled her injured arm.

'Lucie...' Reid whispered in disbelief. 'Lucie!' He repeated louder as he let himself fully register that she was awake.

Practically launching himself at her, he carefully gathered her into a gentle yet firm embrace. As he pulled away he was breath taken at the glowing smile she awarded him in return. Moving back with slightly flushed cheeks, Reid was pushed to the side as the rest of the team bustled closer to greet the young agent, and a doctor came in to check on her. According to the doctor everything was starting to heal wonderfully and as soon as her arm healed a little more she would be free to return home with crutches – she had estimated 2 weeks maximum. When the doctor had increased Fuller's pain medication dosage slightly to ease her discomfort he moved on to his next patient, leaving the room in a content silence as everyone relished in the good news – forgetting for a moment that they had to leave soon and had a case in the morning.


	5. Chapter 5

As they sat in contented silence, suddenly a single voice broke through the silence, a harsh whisper of 'I'm so sorry'. Fuller curiously turned to look at the source, taking in Prentiss rolling her eyes and Garcia's shaking head on the way.

'Hotch? What on earth are you sorry for? I'm going to be fine, he just said so!'

'This is all my fault. You could have died, and I'm so sorry –'

'Seriously?!' Fuller couldn't believe what she was hearing, he couldn't honestly think that he was somehow responsible! She stared at him with an incredulous expression. 'This kind of thing happens, it's basically part of our job description. You can't _honestly_ believe this is your fault? We were _all _looking around, checking the area – none of us saw Keaton, it's like he came out of nowhere. I looked at the roof before we moved in, I didn't see him there either.

Hotch look, I'm fine – still breathing, still myself just a bit roughed up. It's just my absolutely _amazing_ luck that I managed to get myself shot in as many places outside of my vest before Morgan took him down. _I_ don't blame you, it's clear _no one else_ here blames you, so _why_ are _you_ blaming yourself?''

For a moment the two simply stared at one another before an understanding was reached, Hotch nodded once and gave a brief smile and a muttered 'thank you'. He promised to stop by first thing before they left for Massachusetts, looking pointedly at Reid as he did so, and left the room soon followed by the rest of the BAU 'family'. Garcia gave Fuller a long, strong hug and smacked a kiss to her cheek before promising to grace them with her 'fabulous presence' in the morning also. With that Fuller and Reid were left alone.

They stayed in silence for a little while, simply content in each other's company. Soon Fuller turned her head with a soft smile, eyes twinkling as she saw Reid lost in thought still holding tightly onto her right hand. _'He's so beautiful'_ she thought. _'Perfection.'_ Taking the time to really look at him while he was far away in his thoughts, she could barely believe how lucky she was. She had been so close to never seeing him again, to losing him before she ever really had him. She couldn't imagine never seeing the bright sparkle of passion and joy in his striking eyes when he finds the opportunity to spout facts and statistics; the flush of pleasure and slight embarrassment across his angular cheekbones whenever they touched or conversed; the soft glow of happiness he seemed to have every time she walked into the room; the bright encouraging smile he gave her whenever she came up with a key part of a profile or did anything well really. She would never have heard his proclamation of love just as she awoke – and would never have had the chance to return it.

'_But I do now. I'm alive, he's here... this is my chance.'_

Squeezing his hand gently to regain his attention, she finally whispered the words she'd been holding in for so long in fear of rejection.

'I love you too.'

Reid eyes widened comically in response. 'You... You do?' he questioned incredulously, a shy look crossing his features as he waited for the confirmation.

'You have no idea Spence.' she replied with a brilliant grin spreading across her face, pure love and adoration shining through her eyes. 'I've wanted to tell you for so long but was so scared. I figured you could do much better than me, I mean you're amazing! And I treasured our friendship so very much that I couldn't dare risk telling you and losing that if you didn't feel the same... But then I heard you arguing with Hotch as I woke up, and you said you loved me and I finally had hope. I mmph-'

Fuller was cut off by Reid's lips and she immediately melted into their first kiss. He chuckled as he pulled back slightly to gaze into her eyes.

'I thought I was the one who didn't stop talking?'

Fuller joined Reid in his laughter at his comment before pulling him back towards her, whispers of 'I love you' were shared between kisses as they relished in the joy of the moment.


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning, Spencer awoke suddenly by a high-pitched squeal as Garcia burst into the room having spotted Fuller gently brushing Reid's hair from his forehead and awkwardly lean to press a kiss there as he slept.

'You told him! You are so sweet I could just eat you both up! Wait until my chocolate Adonis sees this – we've been shipping you for months!'

Reid groaned loudly and began to rant about the negative consequences of waking someone up in such an abrupt manner, pausing after a moment as he focused on the object in his friend's hand. As the heavenly aroma reached him he sighed in pure bliss.

'You brought me coffee!'

Clutching the proffered cup from his friend he sat back and began to greedily drink down the sweet nectar. Derek arrived shortly after with Hotch, holding Reid's go-bag.

'How're you feeling today beautiful?'

'Brilliant thanks Der, I take it you're here to drag Spence to the jet?'

'Of course!' Morgan replied, flashing a beaming smile.

Finally Spencer moved his attention away from his beloved coffee to acknowledge his co-workers. 'I thought we went over this yesterday –'

'I'm awake now though Spence, you were here. You don't have to stay.'

'I'm not leaving you here.'

'Spence I love you, I really do and that isn't going to change in the few days you'll be away. Go solve this case, and when you come back I'll be here waiting okay?'

'But I-' Reid knew he wasn't going to win, but he remained stubborn. He could make his own decisions and he'd clearly told them the day before that he wasn't going anyway.

'We really do need you on this one Spencer, I wouldn't push it so hard otherwise. You know that.' Hotch was ready to beg, they needed Reid's genius with this case especially since they all wanted it to be over as quickly as possible. It really was bad timing.

'Hmph fine.' Reid wasn't happy but he supposed if Hotch was this desperate to get him on the case maybe he should go. Besides, from the look he was getting from Fuller he probably wouldn't hear the end of it if he stayed. 'But I'm taking some personal days when we get back, no matter what. Deal?' he bargained.

'Deal.' Hotch smirked slightly at the petulant look on his agents as he accepted the inevitable.

'Don't worry Junior G-man, your goddess will be around every evening to check on her and I'll make sure your love calls you every night.' Garcia made sure to wink at that, relishing in the embarrassed flush that emerged in response. 'Now shoo!' She ended with a giggle and a flourish causing Fuller to burst into laughter.

After telling the group goodbye, promising Garcia to call her if she needed anything, and kissing Spence one last time they left. The door close and she was left alone to her happy thoughts, she couldn't wait for them to get back so she could spend time with Reid properly. It was just a shame it took her getting shot to kick them into action, she thought with a giggle before snuggling back into the covers for a nap. She was sure to have good dreams with the mood she was in.


End file.
